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Multiple-Meaning Words

A multiple-meaning word is spelled and said the same way but means different things: a bat flies at night, and you hit a ball with a bat. Context is the only clue, which is why these words are such good reading practice.

Here are 124 multiple-meaning words from past ClueBy puzzles, each with a real example sentence for every meaning. Use them as a reference, or make a printable worksheet below.

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Students read each sentence and write the missing word. Every word appears in several sentences, each time with a different meaning.

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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  2. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  3. It's one o'clock ________________.
  4. David sat on the ________________.
  5. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  6. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  7. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  8. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  9. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  10. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  11. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  12. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  13. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  14. The water is too ________________.
  15. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  16. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  17. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  18. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  19. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  20. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  21. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  22. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  23. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  24. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com

Answer key

  1. deal — a big deal
  2. lash — an eyelash
  3. sharp — exactly
  4. swing — to play on
  5. lash — a whip stroke
  6. sharp — with an edge
  7. cold — the Cold War
  8. sharp — clever
  9. deal — an agreement
  10. branch — a division
  11. wake — before a funeral
  12. row — a quarrel
  13. swing — in golf
  14. cold — not warm
  15. branch — of a bank
  16. deal — to handle
  17. branch — of a tree
  18. wake — a trail
  19. row — a line
  20. cold — an illness
  21. wake — to stop sleeping
  22. row — to paddle
  23. swing — music
  24. lash — to lash out

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

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Frequently asked questions

What are multiple-meaning words?

Words with the same spelling and pronunciation but more than one meaning, like bark (of a dog or of a tree) or bank (for money or of a river). You can only tell which meaning is meant from the rest of the sentence.

Are multiple-meaning words the same as homonyms?

Mostly, yes. Teachers often use "multiple-meaning words" and "homonyms" for the same idea. Homophones are different: they sound alike but are spelled differently, like flour and flower.

Are the worksheets free?

Yes. Make and print as many as you like for home or classroom use. Each sheet has its own link, so you can print the same one again.

Where do the words come from?

From past ClueBy puzzles, a daily game where you sort twelve sentences by their missing word. A new puzzle every day adds four more words to this list.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com